High Country RFC @ Birmingham Vulcan’s RFC - February 13th, 2010

Final

High Country 0
Birmingham 6
High Country RFC battled Birmingham Vulcan’s RFC this last Saturday and lost a heartbreaker 6-0 off of two first half Vulcan penalty kicks.  The story of the game, however, was the weather and field conditions, as continuous rain and snow made the pitch literally a pool of mud.  The first 20 minutes saw Birmingham continually stay in High Country territory as their backs strategically kicked for field position early on.  This allowed the large Vulcan pack to try and hammer runs off the fringe of the ruck for gain line. The High Country defense was superb as it defended each barrage, only allowing scores off of stupid penalties—penalties that may have been more to do with the conditions more than anything. As the game wore on, the fit High Country side was able to change the tide and was in scoring position for most of the second half. Led by Man of the Match Jason Skrzypek, High Country tried to make an offensive game plan off running forward pods against the Vulcan defense. The weather and field conditions really prevented much more offensive variety than that, and severely limited the High Country backs and forwards from doing much more than running straight ahead. This really played into Birmingham’s favor. So, although the team was unable to score, there were many ripe opportunities for tries that were just thrown away—literally as many times the ball just slipped out of hands or bobbled around. It was a great effort and the fact that the team could travel well and stay focused under such harsh conditions bodes well for the rest of the season.
 Video of field conditions

By: Kevin Paavola